


The Art of Thanking

by Cold_Gold_Heart



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Character Study, Gen, kind of plotless
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-14
Updated: 2017-10-14
Packaged: 2019-01-17 09:02:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12362295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cold_Gold_Heart/pseuds/Cold_Gold_Heart
Summary: Ogiwara Shigehiro is a man of many strengths—many of which have helped Mochida Reiji grow as a player and as a person. However, his greatest strength had to be the way he always believed in others. So, although his heart was broken, although he wanted to give up, Reiji would hang on because Shige believed inhim. So, although the times only get tougher, Reiji would never stop believing in himself and in his own strength to stand up again and again.





	The Art of Thanking

Reiji had always been afraid of being judged. The court a kilometer away from home was usually packed, and he became too much of a nervous wreck to play properly with the other kids. So, when he became interested in basketball, he decided to only play when the weather was bad or late at night when no one was around. Up until his sixth year of elementary school, he truly thought that he would never encounter someone else on the court on a stormy day.

Of course, he was wrong.

One day, he ran at maximum speed towards the court, almost tripping and injuring himself multiple times. This was normal for him. He was always excited to play a game as he didn’t get to play as often as the other kids, who played under normal conditions. It was raining pretty hard—dribbling would be a little awkward when the water splashed onto him, but that was all part of the fun.

However, when he heard the sound of a ball bouncing, he became considerably less excited to play. What could someone be doing at his spot during _his_ time?

“Uwah!” A boy with light brown hair and a cheerful smile (also, was that a piece of rice on his face?) had shot the ball with an almost perfect form. Unfortunately, he missed the basket. Reiji scoffed when the boy started mumbling “Oh, man” and jumping up and down, as he fixed his form so meticulously that it was funny.

“Huh? Oh! Hey!” The boy tucked the ball under his arm and gestured to Reiji to come closer with his other hand. “Do you wanna play with me?”

“HA?” Reiji tilted his head to the side. He had _never_ played with anyone else before, despite the fact that basketball was a _team_ sport. “Uh… sure, I guess?”

“Great!” The boy could clearly see his discomfort, but the bright smile remained on his face as he passed the ball to Reiji, who caught it clumsily.

The boy chuckled, and Reiji wondered if the way he caught it was that bad. Clearly, the boy wasn’t thinking about that as he apologized for being rude and not introducing himself. “I’m Ogiwara Shigehiro, by the way!”

Reiji bowed his head politely. “Mochida Reiji.” Then, without warning, Reiji shot the ball. It bounced on the rim slightly, and he tensed. Luckily, the net swished as the ball fell into the basket. He just made a shot! A three pointer, no less.

“Hey! That’s unfair!” Ogiwara-kun yelled, with a good-natured smile. “That was a pretty cool shot, though! However… I won’t lose! Pass the ball to me!”

Nodding, Reiji passed the ball to Ogiwara-kun and got into a defensive position. He rarely ever had to play defense, since he played solo, but he had to try.

In the end, Ogiwara-kun easily got around him. Then, he asked a question that surprised himself.

“Ogiwara-kun, would you teach me how to get better at defense and assists?”

And that was how he learned how to play with a team. He joined Ogiwara-kun in everything, after that. They went to different schools, but they somehow managed to walk home with each other. (Actually, they walked to the court, but the amount of time they spent there made it seem like home.) He joined Ogiwara-kun’s mini basketball club and learned—a lot.

First, he learned about defending and assisting. It was actually fun to learn although he sucked at it. The coach tried to teach him how to be a good PG, which made him extremely nervous. The PG was always the first one to handle the ball, and he could never stop thinking about how if he messed up, they would completely lose their chance to win. His teammates tried to be nice to him, but he could tell they were annoyed by how he always failed to get past whoever was guarding him. They also got irritated because he rarely ever passed first. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust his teammates. He just didn’t trust his intuition to come up with good plays, plus, he was a good scorer, so why not just score?

Second, he really needed to loosen up and become more honest about himself.

He had always been scared of people’s judgement, so he refrained from sharing much about himself. No one was interested in knowing that he was a fantasy-obsessed nerd. It was bad enough that they knew how obsessed he was with NBA players, although a few others had the same interest as him. However, the conversation once turned to hobbies, and they had all turned to Reiji, who they knew the least out of all the players. He was able to mumble a shaky “I don’t do anything, really,” before the conversation went back to some video game he had never heard of.

“Hey, Mochida!” Ogiwara-kun grinned at him. “Let’s go walk home together!”

“We always do, Ogiwara-kun.” He stepped beside him and they made their way to the basketball court together.

“Mochida…” Ogiwara-kun took the basketball out of his backpack, which seemed to be breaking apart. “You know, you can tell me and the guys about anything, right? We’d never judge you.”

“Ogiwara-kun.” Reiji sighed. “Not all of us are as cool as—”

“You’re just assuming that we won’t like you!” Ogiwara-kun started dribbling the ball, and looked directly at him. “If you keep on hiding yourself, people will avoid you… and you don’t want that.”

“Er, uh… Where is all of this coming from?” Reiji blurted out.

“I’m just saying that you can trust us, Mochida.” Ogiwara-kun looked away from him. His smile seemed a little sad. “Because I trust you.”

“Why would you trust me?” Reiji wished he could slap himself without looking weird. Why was he asking all these weird questions? He shut his eyes and took a deep breath. _Trust Ogiwara-kun… trust Ogiwara-kun._

The reply was not what he was expecting. “I dunno.”

Reiji scowled. “You know what, if you can’t give me a proper answer, we might as well just get to it. I’ve gotta improve my dribbling.”

“Let’s go!”

It was a simple conversation, but it comforted the 11-year-old Reiji a great deal. Although he never talked about himself, he did open up when he was asked. Thanks to this, he was able to find friends who apparently liked the same books he did. Grateful, he decided that there was one person he owed his thanks to.

“Uh, Ogiwara-kun?” The black-haired boy poked the other and took a deep breath.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.” Reiji’s smile grew. “Thanks to you, I gained confidence in myself. I learned how to be a better basketball player and a better person, too. So, thank you so much!” He bowed; the smile was still on his face.

“Huh? Why are you thanking me?” Reiji looked up to see the incredulity on Ogiwara-kun’s face.

He stood up, back straight, making awkward gestures as he tried to explain. “You, uh… y’know! You helped me gain confidence in myself! And you helped me improve my game! I just want to be able to repay you…”

“I don’t recall doing anything like that, but sure.” Ogiwara-kun grinned, his eyes twinkling. “I know what you can do!” He moved in closer and whispered, “Drop the ‘-kun’! I know it’s s’posed to be friendly and polite, but I already have another friend who does that…”

“Fine.” Reiji rolled his eyes. “I’ll go with ‘Shige’ then.”

Reiji swore that Ogiwara-kun’s—Shige’s eyes were sparkling with the intensity of the sun. (And the sun didn’t even sparkle, so that made it even more amazing. “Cool. Now what nickname can I give you—”

“Please. Don’t.” Reiji sighed. He wasn’t ready for people to be making fun of him and asking him if his semen tasted _mochi_ or something. He also didn’t want to get called a girl with the rather girly nickname that came into his head.

“Okay, fine. Chill, dude!” Shige chuckled before suddenly passing the ball to him. Shocked, the boy took a step forward and it hit him on the head.

“Mochida, you o—”

He threw the ball directly at Shige, who caught it with ease. Reiji groaned. “That’s totally unfair! How can you be so prepared?”

Shige laughed again. It was the kind of laugh that made you feel as if you were sinking upwards. Shige was the type of friend that could make hanging upside down while soaring comfortable and fun (and Reiji was even scared of heights). It was nice. “You just have to accept the ball, really.” He spun it on his finger, seemingly delighted by his little trick.

Reiji nodded. He couldn’t help but feel that this was what made Shige so strong. He just accepted anything thrown at him. Whether it was a person like Reiji or a problem in school, Shige managed to fly above every hurdle and move past any obstacle. He smiled, thinking about how amazing his friend was.

 _Thank you_. _For being around, and…_

_I hope this lasts._

* * *

 

Actually joining the basketball team was way tougher than he expected. Meikou was full of amazing players, yet Reiji didn't feel frightened anymore. Like Shige had suggested, he had embraced and accepted the situation and focused on pouring the best of his abilities into the game. However, it was difficult as no one seemed to believe in him except Shige. His teammates said his play style was boring, while the coach didn't believe in his abilities as a playmaker. He had no idea what to do, so he practiced until he dropped. 

"I don't know what I'm doing wrong," he muttered between gritted teeth. "I've given it my all, but I can't seem to find my way onto the bench. How the hell did you do it?" He already knew the answer to his question, though. Shige had done it the way he always did, with hard work, determination and his surprisingly good intuition.

The two friends remained silent for a while, as Shige considered his question. "I guess... I just did it?" Well, he had expected that answer. However, he was surprised when Shige continued. "I think you're just focusing on the wrong thing... Y'know that saying that if you try to teach a fish how to fly it will forever feel stupid? Maybe you're not meant to be a PG."

Silence pervaded the area again before Reiji let out a laugh. He could barely hold it in. The answer had been so simple. Later that day, he asked if he could do anything that didn't involve playmaking. He got a spot on the bench when people realized that his skill didn't lie in what he thought it would be—his playmaking ability, but his shooting. Shooting was what he had been practicing since her first started playing after all, so it only made sense that it was what he was best at.

In his second year, he was able to lead others with his play. He was _the_ Mochida Reiji—always cool-headed, yet always ready to risk it. He was generally a man of few words, but he managed to inspire the team with his calm presence. "I believe in the team," he would say, "This is why I remain calm." One day, a nervous lower-year approached him and asked, "I understand how you can believe in such a strong team... but how... how do you believe in yourself?" Reiji admitted that he didn't really know, but said that after practicing enough, one's mind seems to trust the instincts.

The truth, he realized later, was that Shige believed in him, and he never wanted to let Shige down.

So when he was appointed as captain, he immediately asked if Shige could be vice-captain. The coach obliged and the pair lead the team together. They went through the hardship of loss—it was a heavy feeling that seemed to pull a person down into the depths of darkness, but thanks to Shige, Reiji could always see the light. He could trust Shige and depend on Shige to depend on him. He thought that the two would always share this light energy with each other. He thought Shige would always be able to pull him up and that he would be able to pull up Shige.

Then, they faced Teikou.

Reiji had done his best. He hadn't cracked under the pressure of the finals, but they couldn't do anything about it. The Generation of Miracles had controlled the whole game. All the years he had spent playing basketball seemed to be nothing compared to the power of Teikou that seemed to be bestowed to them by the gods (if they weren't gods themselves). He hated gods, and that would've been okay if he didn't hate basketball.

A part of him hoped that Shige would pull him up, but the boy was even worse than him. He knew that Shige loved basketball more than anyone else he knew, and 40 minutes had ruined all the beliefs he had held about the game he loved.

He was the worst captain. He couldn't get his teammates to continue playing in high school. He couldn't get _himself_ to continue.

Then, he remembered Shige and how he always believed in him.

He would continue basketball. He may not win, but he owes that much to Shige.

This is how he will say thanks.


End file.
